Welcome to the 2014 annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Our GSC Cabinet and Committees have an exciting palate of events over the next three days. While I will share this update at the Business Luncheon on Saturday, here are some general announcements and updates since my last report in July 2014 for those unable to join us:

ASTR Executive Committee and GSC Cabinet Updates

The structure and overall health of the Graduate Student Caucus is excellent. This is thanks to the excellent leadership from past GSC presidents and cabinets including Kellyn Johnson (2013) and David Calder (2012). Despite the strength of our structure, we did see a decrease in membership (236 in 2014) since Dallas 2013 (252). However, there was an increase in conference registration from 2014 to 2013 (190 in 2014 and 180 in 2013). I am confident that the health of the GSC is sound, but could be improved by some additional visibility from the whole of ASTR on behalf of the GSC.

This year my goal as President was to help improve the visibility of our group. Sara Boland-Taylor (2014 Rep. to the New Paradigms in Graduate Education) and the GSC Cabinet proposed some recruitment initiatives focused on soliciting Theatre and Theatre-related graduate program. We drafted a recruitment letter addressed to graduate program advisors to introduce the goals and interests of our caucus as a reminder of GSC activities and events.

Over the summer, Allan Davis (2014 VP, Rep to the Committee on Conferences) and Rita Kompelmakher (University of Minn.) organized a virtual book club featuring Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius’ So What Are You Going To Do With That?: Finding Careers Outside Academia. The book club attracted many graduate students and scholars. Allan and Rita will lead a Career Session on a discussion of the book, as well as offer resources to faculty mentors and graduate students on how to navigate the changing job market. This session will be held on Friday 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

The ASTR Executive Committee is considering ways to improve the guidelines for working group paper submissions. There has been an increase in double and triple paper submissions across multiple working groups. Please note, ASTR traditionally does not allow same paper submissions to multiple sessions. The general rule is one paper to one working group.

Committee on Conferences Host City Schedule is as follows: 2015 Portland, 2016 Minneapolis, and 2018 Atlanta.

Graduate Fellowship Program:

The Graduate Fellowship Program continues to be a valuable financial resource to graduate students looking to offset conference registration fees. For more information on how you can apply for 2015 ASTR Graduate Fellowship, please contact the ASTR Administration Office at astroffice@astr.org.

ASTR GSC Committee Updates

Conference Assistance Committee:

Co-Chairs, Areum Jeong (UCLA) and Ira Murfin (Northwestern)

This committee oversaw the 2014 Baltimore Conference Assistance Packet. This document which will be distributed in Baltimore (hardcopy form and online) features host city information, arts and entertainment, local restaurants, and information for new and current members on navigating the conference. This year, we decided to add photos of the co-chairs and current GSC Cabinet Reps. We hope these will serve as a point of reference for new and returning ASTR members. Please do seek us out as points of reference while in Baltimore.

Formally, Peer Mentorship, this committee is organizing the ASTR Mentorship Breakfast, and two social networking events to take place in Baltimore. Currently, we have a total of 90 participants (42 mentors and 48 mentees). Last year we had 46 mentors and 54 mentees for a total of 100. While this is a slight decrease from last year’s mentorship breakfast, we are confident that interest in the breakfast, these numbers may reflect the slight loss in general membership in 2014.

Web Resources Committee:

Chair: Danielle Rosevally (Tufts)

The Web Resources Committee has created a digital pamphlet with GSC information and events. Click here to view. We are thrilled with our social media presences. In April 2014, we had 254 members of our Facebook Group. We now have 283 members, 114 Twitter Followers, and Facebook community page has attracted 83 Likes. If you are attending the Baltimore conference either in-person or via webinar, we encourage you to help us increase our online presence by tweeting @astrgsc and #astr2014. Please be respectful when posting photos from the conference on social media. It is generally recommended that you if you intend on posting photos on social media that you obtain consent with the person(s) who are visible and/or recognizable in the photograph. Also please be respectful in terms of language and subject matter when referring to your fellow ASTR members. Respect carries across all forms of communication.

ASTR GSC NEW ITEMS/DEVELOPMENTS

GSC Election:

The GSC closed elections for 2014-2015. The current cabinet is working closely with the new representatives to ensure a smooth transition. 2015 reps will assume their positions after the business meeting in Baltimore on Saturday, November 22, 2014. Click here to view the 2015 GSC Cabinet bios or visit http://tinyurl.com/astrgsc2015. President-Elect, Kellen Hoxworth will select chairs and co-chairs for 2015 available committees. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved! Please contact Kellen at graduatestudentcaucus@astr.org if you are interested in chairing/co-chairing Web Resources, Mentorship, or Conference Assistance Committees.

Outside Academia:

The committee on New Paradigms in Graduate Education has released a five-volume set of interviews on theatre artists and scholars who have careers outside of the academy. The interviews were conducted and written by graduate students. Our GSC Rep, to the Committee on New Paradigms in Graduate Education, Sara Boland-Taylor, is the editor. There will be a limited number of hardcopies available at the conference. To read these interviews, please visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/newparadigmsingraduateeducation

In Closing

It has been a pleasure serving as your 2014 GSC President. I am thankful for your support of graduate student interests. We could not serve the graduate student population or the ASTR community without the guidance of President Heather Nathans, the members of the Executive Committee, Nancy Erikson (ASTR Administrator), and Shaun Sewell Franklin (Communications Manager). I would like to extend a special thank you to Nancy Erickson and Shaun Sewell Franklin for their continued assistance and dedication to the GSC. As announced earlier this year, Nancy Erickson will step down as ASTR Administrator as of December 31, 2014. Shaun Sewell will also step down effective June 1, 2015. Ewald Consulting will assume ASTR administrator and communication duties as of January 1, 2015. Nancy and Shaun have been pivotal to the success of the GSC and I am grateful for their guidance and support.

Additionally, no presidency is a success without the support of her/his cabinet. Thank you to the 2014 GSC Cabinet and Committee Chairs:

If you are interested in chairing or serving a GSC Committee, please contact President-Elect Kellen Hoxworth at graduatestudentcaucus@astr.org. So until we meet again in Portland 2015, take care and thank you!